A Collection of Drabbles
by Grace Veronica
Summary: Thoughts-Werewolf Dog Babies-Essays-Showering-Scars-Tattoo-French-Kisses-Carving-A Black Eye-Pregnant-Christmas-James Finds Out-Those Posters-Jealousy-Tell Me I Didn't-Remus And Lily-Grimmauld Place-Argument-Asking Him Out- RLSB Always.
1. Thoughts

**A/N: **_So this is my first collection of drabbles. They're so much prettier. And easier. Yes? You know you love how cute these two are._

**Disclaimer: **_Blah blah blah JKR. [Although we now know she isn't opposed to gay characters. So why the heck didn't she make these two come out?_

* * *

Remus thinks that being with Sirius would make everything better.

Remus thinks that freezing nights would be a lot warmer if he was curled up next to Sirius.

Remus thinks that the full moon would be much less painful if he woke up and Sirius was waiting to fix the aches and pains.

Remus thinks that he wouldn't mind his scars if Sirius told him they were as beautiful as he was.

Sirius thinks that being with Remus would make everything better.

Sirius thinks that sitting through class would be bearable if Remus sat next to him and reached for his hand underneath the desk.

Sirius thinks that if Remus would become his family, he'd never have to worry about his parents.

Sirius thinks that the war would be easier to face if Remus faced it with him.


	2. Werewolf Dog Babies

**A/N: **_Hello, these first two are done together. Sorta. I think it's easier to go between dating/ not dating/ hating eachother/ secret Azkaban sex/ teaching Harry the birds and the bees/ death. NOT in that order. Or perhaps not at all. Still._

**Disclaimer: **_Thought I did this. JK owns these two. From now on accept it. Accept and assume, people. [Don't know if I can get away with this crazy talk.  
Also - for those of you who watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S, you will recognise one of these lines. I think it might just have been the inspiration for this story. So I sort of adopted that line. It's very cute._

* * *

"Moony?" 

Remus sighed. "Trying to read here, Sirius."

"I don't mind. Do you think we'll end up having werewolf dog babies, Moony?"

Remus forced a laugh. "Do we have to do this right now?"

"Yes."

"Well, I sincerely hope not."

"Don't you ever think about things like that?" Sirius asked, quietly.

"More than you'd probably care to guess."

Sirius rolled over onto his stomach, facing Remus, whose face was beginning to colour behind his book. "Imagine if the kids had your book smarts and my raw sexual magnetism. Those nerds would get _laid_."

Remus chose not to respond, but was satisfied instead with the rather loud whump his book made on contact with Sirius' head.


	3. Essays

**A/N: **_Hello, clamouring fans. It's a surprising amount of fun to pretend to have a following. Anyways, instead of revising for up-and-coming tests, I decided to post this. It's easier just to write a bunch and post them every now and again, less pressure. laughs I'm kidding, there's no pressure._

_Not sure if these two are dating yet. I think they just might be. Or in that grey area between finding out someone likes you and going out with them. I think in Sirius' mind, they're always going out._

**Disclaimer: **_JK owns them, yes? Yes._

* * *

Remus sat down quietly next to Sirius, whose eyes were shut in concentration.

"You still working on that essay?"

Sirius jumped, startled. "Shit, Moony, don't _do _that."

"It took me ten minutes to do the essay. You've done, what, three paragraphs? And how long have we been here?"

Sirius leaned back over his work, quill in hand. "I thought you loved the library."

Remus groaned. "I like it more than you, at any rate."

Sirius stabbed at his piece of parchment violently, tearing a hole in it.

"If you need help, just ask. It took me ten minutes," Remus continued.

"So you said. You pick weird things to brag about, Moony." Sirius looked at his parchment. "I'll do this later." He looked back up at Remus, who was frowning.

Sirius, avoiding his gaze, swept his quill, bottled ink and parchment into his schoolbag and swung it over his shoulder. "Coming?"

Remus stood up stiffly. "Where's James?"

"Detention. McGonagall found him out of bed last night, working on the Map." Sirius began to walk out of the library, Remus following closely.

"Did she-?"

"Nah, he hid it. Thank Merlin, I would've killed him if she took it. Four months work down the drain."

"Think of all the essays you've could have finished in that time."

"I swear, Moony, I'll kill _you _first."


	4. Showering

**A/N: **_I churned this out in, what, half an hour? So excuse me if it's rubbish. I realised I've been neglecting my fans (giggles Not.) - I have about a week of exams next week, so I've been working - and thought I might take advantage of a Friday night to write this._

_It's a bit risque. laughs I like it, though, I think it's quite nice. I might change it a bit if I re-read this and go whaaaaat? Thanks very much to everyone who has reviewed - I save up these Fanfiction emails 'til the end of the week, then binge on them. They make it all so worthwhile. So enjoy!_

**Disclaimer: **_JK probably does not approve of me writing RLSB, but I don't care. However, she owns them.

* * *

_

Perhaps if Remus could remember a time when he wasn't in love with Sirius he wouldn't have done it.

If he could think back to a time when his heart didn't insist on pounding at Sirius' smile, or a time when his breath didn't become uneven with the thought of being alone together in the Shack - a time when he didn't have such _impure _thoughts about his best friend, maybe the prospect wouldn't have occurred to him at all.

But as he nods to James and Peter, and begins to climb the stairs into the dormitories two at a time, he knows that he's going to do it.

Remus thinks that he was in love with Sirius before he even met him.

That there was always a gap that Sirius would fill so perfectly.

The weeks of solidarity after first being bitten were missing Sirius.

So was the first transformation.

And almost every transformation since then, Remus mused, had been missing Sirius.

So, as Remus quietly opens the dormitory door, he argues with himself that what he's about to do is reasonable. In fact, it's downright _unfair _if he doesn't do it. He's missed out on enough.

He can barely hear the shower running over the blood rushing in his ears and he struggles to keep it from appearing on his cheeks. He tries to place a look of innocence of his face, and opens the bathroom door.

Sirius turns at the sounds of the door opening, and both he and Remus stand, frozen for a second (minute, year, lifetime). Sirius offers a small, shy smile and Remus is suddenly completely aware that Sirius is _naked _and finally stumbles over the right words, feigning apologies and embarrassment.

He almost slams the door shut, the last shout of sorry lost somewhere in his mouth.

He definitely deserved that.


	5. Scars

**A/N: **_Missed me, munchkins? laughs Sorry. To anyone who is a diehard fan, I apologise. (Sound a bit up meself, there.) I've had so much work to do, lately. And I do have work for next week, but who cares? Remus/Sirius much more important.  
Our School Certificate test for English required us to write a story about laughter, and I wrote a thinly veiled RemusSirius about scarred wrists. I changed it a bit, but I thought it was worth publishing. )_

**Disclaimer: **_Yada yada yada. JK. She rawks._

* * *

It was halfway through first term before Sirius noticed the scars on Remus' wrists.

When he pointed them out to James, James shook his head and said he didn't know.

Peter shrugged, too, and said that it was none of _their _business what that Lupin kid got up to.

Sirius waited as long as he possibly could before confronting Remus about it. Which was ended up being an hour.

He tried subtly working it into conversation as soon as they were alone in the dorms, but subtlety was never one of Sirius' strong points, and within moments he was screaming at Remus that no friend of his would ever take the coward's way out, and that if he had to, he'd never leave Remus alone, so Remus would never get a chance to do it again.

Remus remained quiet until Sirius raised both his arms, causing Remus to flinch from the blows he knew were coming, until he felt Sirius press himself against Remus in the most bone crushing hug he had ever had the pleasure of receiving.

Sirius stormed out of the dormitory, then, leaving Remus to contemplate his scarred wrists, and hands and arms and _body _and thanked Merlin Sirius Black wasn't the most attentive person in the world.


	6. Tattoo

**A/N: **_I was watching Dave Hughes Live the other day, and he mentions that his girlfriend gets a tattoo that says 'I Love Dave'. So I thought, Sirius seems the type to get a tattoo. So, then I thought, he also seems the type to drink a lot. So that'd rub off on Remus every now and again, and I think he'd think Sirius would appreciate it. Which, of course, he would._

**Disclaimer: **_JK owns it. dances And now read, my pretties, and fall in love with Remus over and over._

* * *

Sirius appraised Remus with a raised eyebrow. 

"How much did you _drink_?"

Remus looked at his own reflection in the mirror. "You say I don't drink enough. Besides, I think it looks good."

Sirius took a step forward. "Oh, there's no denying it looks _good_. But you're going to die when you see it tomorrow."

Remus laughed.

"How did you do it?"

"Found a spell. And you think all that studying's a waste of time."

Sirius leant his chin on Remus' shoulder. "Definitely not a waste of time," he breathed.

* * *

Sirius blinked bleary eyes, woken by Remus slowly withdrawing his hand from Sirius'. The weight on the mattress shifted slightly as Remus got up, tiptoeing across the dormitory.

Sirius smiled to himself as he turned to face the pillow, which still smelt of the other boy. All he could hear was the gentle snores of James and Peter, and Remus' footsteps padding quietly. Sirius sighed and closed his –

A scream erupted from the bathroom, causing Sirius to throw back the covers in panic, running to Remus, passing James and Peter, who had both woken at the sound.

"What happ-" Sirius began, as he slipped into the bathroom, but stopped abruptly as Remus stared at his shirtless body, frozen in shock.

James' voice called out tentatively from the dorm. "Remus?"

Remus exhaled, very slowly, before raising a finger to his collarbone. "What's this?" He asked, his tone icy.

Sirius squinted at Remus' reflection. "Looks like a- Fuck."

Mirror Remus glared. "Don't you think I've got enough scars already? _Fuck, _Sirus!" Remus' voice reverberated in the small bathroom, his anger evident in every echo.

"What makes you think _I _did it? _You _did it!" Sirius shouted back.

Remus blinked. "What?"

"You thought it was a good idea. And it _is_." A small pause. "It's amazing," he added, quietly.

Remus frowned. "It looks—"

"—Great. No one's going to see it. I'm the only one who sees you with your shirt off, right?"

Remus reluctantly nodded.

"And, if it's any consolation, it makes you look sexy."

Remus smiled. "What, more so than usual?"

Sirius laughed. "You made a joke about it. That's definitely a good sign."

Remus turned around, and linked his arms around Sirius' neck. "Well, don't let me drink so much, next time. My head hurts from all the yelling."

Sirius nodded absently, fixated as he was on the image of Remus pointing at a tiny paw print tattoo on his collarbone, which was, without doubt, one of the best things he'd ever seen in his life.

He made a mental note to get Remus to drink more often.


	7. French

**A/N:** _Hey doods. Sorry I took so long with this. It's set in, what, 1981? I took the general idea from F.R.I.E.N.D.S again. When David comes back from Minsk for that one night, and he says something to Phoebe in Russian, and she's like, 'What does that mean?'_

_'Please clean my beakers.'_

**Disclaimer: **_JKR owns 'em. So do Warner Brothers. Bright, Kauffman, Crane._

_

* * *

_

Remus spent the July of 1981 in France, on Dumbledore's orders.

Sirius wondered if the old man knew about the break-up, or if he was just being his selfish, set-in-his-ways self. Sirius preferred to believe in the latter.

Without Remus, he felt oddly lost. He spent most of his time moping. James was there for him. So was Harry. He found Harry was good at listening.

In early August, Remus visited Sirius. He was noticeably thinner, and there were a few scratches that hadn't been there before. There were a few more lines, too.

Sirius didn't mention them, though, and gestured Remus in without a sound.

They chatted idly covering inane, _safe _topics, like how tall Harry was now, and if Sirius was still obsessed with the motorbike. Sirius noticed Remus was much quieter than he used to be, while Sirius was a lot louder than he usually was. Maybe they were both just nervous.

Sirius managed a few jokes. Remus managed a few smiles.

'Know any French, now?' Sirius asked, trying to lead the conversation towards _us_.

Remus looked away. 'I don't know.'

'You've got to know _something,_' Sirius teased. 'Like, "where are the gay bars?"'

Remus avoided Sirius' eyes. 'Je ne sais pas.'

'Is that "where are the gay bars?"'

'No.' There was something about Remus' tone that gave Sirius goose bumps, and he began to speak in a whisper.

'What- what does it mean?' Sirius asked, heart in his throat.

Remus sighed. 'I don't know.'

'No, what does it mean?' Sirius repeated.

'That's what it means.'

'Oh. I, uh… I thought it meant something else,' Sirius said, quietly.

Remus paused. 'Yes. Well, I was going to say… _that._ But, I thought it wasn't right. Since I'll just be going away again.'

Sirius nodded. 'No. No. Yeah, don't say it.'

'I – I do, though,' Remus said.

'Yes,' Sirius muttered,' I do, too.'


	8. Kisses

**A/N: **_Don't you love me? Another update._

_This story was particularly hard to write. Took me ages. Much props to Arabella, she did a tremendous job of reading this over and over and over. Remus' head in his head. Woops._

_Thank you to everyone for reviewing. I try and reply to reviews. You guys rawk. (Props to Minerva Evenstar, too. New friend!)_

**Disclaimer: **_Belonging to JKR, but I doubt even she could write something this fluffy. Despite those scenes in DH...  
And, I suggest, I am in a very Straylight Run mood at the moment. So disclaimer to them, for being awesome._

* * *

Their first kiss was nothing special.

Sirius had declared that the best place for their first date was the Shrieking Shack and when Remus protested, saying that it was positively the most _un-_romantic place he'd ever been, Sirius remained surprisingly firm and solemn.

So much so, in fact, that Remus had found himself consenting to a 'late night stroll' – and two nights later, he was clutching Sirius' hand, heart in his throat as Sirius pulled him across the dark grounds under James' cloak.

They ended up kissing where wolf and dog met on equal terms – a small room in the Shack devoid of furniture, yet filled with scratches and echoes of pain - and as Remus realised that _this _was the reason Sirius wanted to go to the Shack, he felt himself fall in love with him even further.

But Remus was aware of a certain awkwardness between them, even as Sirius' hand worked its way up his leg and, inexperienced though he was, he had known that there was something missing.

Yet they overcame their unease in a matter of days, and years later, when Remus looks back to those first few nerve-wracking kisses, he smiles, and offhandedly mentions the details of their first kiss to Sirius, wondering if he felt the same way.

Sirius looks momentarily confused. 'That wasn't our first kiss,' he says, and then laughs at Remus, who has wrinkled his brow. 'Don't tell me you've blocked out all the other ones.'

And when Remus thinks about it, he recalls the dozens of kisses before the kiss in the Shack.

There were the sarcastic kisses in first year, as Sirius and Remus bumped cheeks, laughing at their own wit.

There were the worried kisses in second year, as Sirius sat with Remus in the Hospital Wing, unsure about his friend's condition, but unwilling to ask – settling instead on kissing a sleeping Remus on his prematurely creased forehead.

There were the tentative kisses in third year, as their friendship strengthened – kisses that began to convey how scared and small they were, as they clung to each other with scarred hands and forgotten secrets.

There were the lingering kisses in fourth year, as they both began to seek the answers to their problems; kisses that began to promise something more and stolen kisses in empty corridors, hidden from James and Peter.

There were the forgiving kisses in fifth year, as they rebuilt their shattered friendship tenderly and quietly – kisses in the back of the library as they frantically studied for the OWLs; reassuring each boy that they would always be there for the other.

There were the intoxicated kisses in sixth year, as they finally let their emotions get the best of them (Remus remembers, quite clearly now – and wonders how he ever managed to _forget _it – being shoved up against the common room wall by a rather drunk Sirius, a knee pushed between his legs and a mouth pressed to his own as his arms wrapped themselves around Sirius' waist).

And, finally, in seventh year, there were the _romantic _kisses.

So Remus claims that none of the first ones counted, because they weren't in love back then. Those kisses were purely… experimental, he says, for lack of a better word.

Sirius raises an eyebrow. 'I was in love with you back then.'

Remus nods, and smiles, a far-off look in his eye.

'Yeah. I was, too.'


	9. Carving

A/N: Oh, the… clichés. They bring it out in me.

Anyways, small story. I've been wanting to include the phrase 'shag you senseless' for ages, and I found a small opportunity to use it. Aw.

Uuum, so. Inspiration? I dunno. I love the whole carving names into things ritual. I think it's very cute. I haven't done it yet, but that's coz I don't have a Sirius. Or, I do, but he's not mine, because I'm not Remus, and I don't want to get in the way of true gay love.

Although, my real-life Remus and Sirius I can definitely see carving their initials places. (TPSP) Must watch out for trees they sit near.

And, also, does anyone else get the feeling that the penknife Sirius uses to carve the tree with is the same knife he gives to Harry in OotP? Because, when I was thinking of this, I was like… Gosh. It _so _is. Harry has a kinky sex knife. (Sorry for the minor spoiler. You had it coming.)

I'm just glad I finally wrote a happy little Remus-And-Sirius-Dating-And-Just-ENJOYING-Themselves-Because-They-Only-Had-A-Few-Years-Until-Peter-Friggen-Pettigrew-Turned-Into-A-Major-Prick fanfic. )

Disclaimer: JK, JK, JK. I think my dad claimed he came up with the idea of Harry Potter today, though, so maybe I should disclaim to him. Also, random disclaimer to TSPS, and anyone who has ever used the phrase 'shag you senseless'. Especially in the Remus-and-Sirius department.

* * *

They sat at the edge of the Lake, Remus splayed on the grass with a book held loosely in his grasp, Sirius kneeling next to him, half supported by the thick trunk of a tree he was facing, shifting slightly every few moments as he chatted happily, more to himself than to Remus.

"And even _then _she said 'no', I think Prongs nearly died – I swear, the look on his face… Evans'll come 'round, though, she just needs a bit of persuading." Sirius finished, rocking back on the balls of his feet.

Remus glanced over his shoulder at Sirius' silhouette. "Hasn't he tried persuading her enough?"

Sirius knelt again, leaning back towards the tree. "Not until she agrees, I think. You're mates with her, aren't you? Can't you do something?"

Remus laughed. "It's not really my place to tell her who she should go out with."

"It _could _be, though, Moony. Wheedle at her." Sirius said.

"I think she's probably had enough of that from James," Remus replied dryly.

Sirius remained quiet, his attention firmly fixed on the tree.

"And what are you doing, anyway?" Remus asked, closing his book.

"Come look; I'm done, now," Sirius said, tapping a section of the trunk, a foot from the ground.

Remus pushed himself to his feet, and walked towards Sirius, looking at where his finger now rested.

Carved into the trunk of the tree, an inch high, were the letters 'RLSB', painstakingly carved with Sirius' pocket knife.

"And before you say anything, lots of girls share their initials with you, so it doesn't necessarily read as 'Sirius Black gets to shag Remus Lupin senseless.'" Sirius said quickly, looking up at Remus.

Remus smiled, and Sirius slipped his hand into Remus'. "Pretty good, yeah?"

"Who says I let you shag me senseless?"

Sirius stood up, using Remus' hand as a brace. "I do," he said, and kissed his the other boy.


	10. A Black Eye

**A/N: **_Annoying little buggers, aren't they? This is a sort of Sirius perspective story. He doesn't get enough attention. I focus it all on Moony. Mainly because I'm truly, madly, deeply in love with him._

_I wrote this in an evening, so excuse me if it's a bit rubbish. I have some creepy obsession with Snape bashing the hell out of Remus. It's a bit sick. But I find it rather attractive - not the fact that it's abuse, or Snape, but just because Remus is so defenseless. The idea of him getting attacked is not beyond me._

_Thankyou to everyone who reviews, even if it's only a few words. I don't mind, I love it. Thankyou to Arabella, who I am constantly bouncing story ideas off (I'm surprised she hasn't disowned me, yet). Thankyou._

_I have this urge to write a drabble using some of the lyrics from These Dreams, by Robbie. I... It's very hard to explain, but I sort of think it's a bit RLSB, during their abusive days. 'She lies on her bed with her hands in her head and she screams, he gets a kick out of losing the plot, so it seems, he makes you all laugh so she's the one doing harm, but how can you fight when she's not the one under his arm?' Ie, suspecting Remus of being the traitor. Anyways._

**Disclaimer: **_JK, props._

_Enjoy this, kiddies, I love you all.

* * *

_Sirius clambered through the portrait hole. The common room was almost empty; some frantically studying fifth-and seventh-years were still awake, cramming as much revision in as possible in preparation for exams-. which made the fact that Remus was nowhere to be seen even more conspicuous. 

Sirius spotted Lily alone in an armchair in the corner of the common room. Also strange. Since she had said yes to James, he had hardly left her side, even going out of his way to dodge the Slytherins to avoid any chance of detentions. Sirius assumed he'd finally slipped up, and was probably sulking in someone's office right this second.

Sirius himself had been in detention with McGonagall, for the third night that week. Apparently, transfiguring Snivellus' head to gigantic proportions wasn't proper class conduct, and he'd suffered accordingly. Wiling away his time writing lines (_I must rise above the temptation to seek attention_), dear Minerva had kept him there 'til what seemed like the early hours of the morning. He almost asked her if this was a clever scheme to spend more time with him, but then realised it would directly contradict his lines, and probably earn him another month's detention. And he was getting sick of missing Remus.

Which brought Sirius back to his early wonderings. Where was Remus? This was the first evening he hadn't been waiting up for him, and as much as Sirius hated to admit it, he was annoyed Remus wasn't there. He _should_ be.

Lily looked up from her notes, and, noticing his presence, beckoned Sirius over. Sirius picked his way through chairs and sat on the arm of Lily's chair.

"Have you seen-?" He started, but Lily interrupted, sensing the question.

"He's upstairs," she said, and looked surprisingly grim.

Sirius opened his mouth, and she cut him off before he began.

"Hiding," she said, and then added, "You'll see."

Sirius ran up the stairs two at a time. While he was certain that it was nothing serious (which included anything to do with Remus' furry little problem, Prongs and Wormtail's well being, low marks, or their 'relationship', as Remus called it – Sirius personally thought that word oversimplified things), something was wrong.

He managed to not throw the door to the dorms open, but instead opened it reasonably calmly, and then turned to shut it, before turning again to face the room, to find Remus.

He was on Sirius' bed, spread on his stomach, hands over his ears, elbows supporting his frail frame, reading some rather dog-eared notes. Sirius often found him on his bed (Remus claimed that it was half his, anyway, because he spent as much time in it as Sirius), so there was nothing odd there.

Remus had heard Sirius enter and raised his head, a half-sincere smile on his face. Sirius blinked.

Remus was sporting the worst black eye Sirius had ever seen.

He had evidently noticed Sirius blanching, because he dropped the smile, and said, "Noticable, hey? I told Lily."

Sirius sat next to Remus, and Remus moved onto his back, looking up into Sirius' face.

When Sirius spoke, he frightened Remus with his forced calm. "Who did it?"

Remus paused as if unsure whether to answer or not, and then sat up. "Snape."

"Right, he's fucking dead." Sirius got up, and Remus caught his wrist.

"Sirius."

Sirius twisted his arm out of Remus' grip, and snarled. "He's a dead man, Remus. Fucking dead."

Remus latched onto Sirius' wrist again and held fast. "He'll keep. Don't you want to hear the story?"

"I'd rather kill that filthy bastard, if I can find him, he's probably tried to save his skin and run-"

"He hasn't."

Something about Remus' tone surprised Sirius enough to shut him up, and he let Remus pull him back onto the bed, and let him talk.

"Well, it was after Potions – you'd run off to detention, and Slughorn wanted to talk to Prongs about something, so I was walking to dinner alone, and, Snape, sort of, fell in step with me."

Remus glanced at Sirius, who seemed to have been frozen in anger.

"Anyway, I was ignoring him, and then he started whispering things. I didn't know what he was saying at first, but then it sort of… _clicked._

"He knows about you and me, Sirius."

Sirius managed to look up. "What?"

"He said he saw us, in a Charms corridor. Kissing."

"He can't've, he's lying, we'd never be that careless-"

"So he's making it up?" Remus replied, "Seemed pretty genuine to me. We kiss a lot of places, it's amazing no one's spotted it before now."

Sirius' face cleared as he replaced his angry expression with a curiously blank one.

Remus continued. "I stopped walking, then. He did, too. Pretty eager to have this conversation, I'd guess he'd been practicing it for a while.

"He said it was - we were - disgusting, that we were nothing but a blood traitor and a werewolf. That it was logical we turned to each other in pure desperation. He said he planned on telling Regulus.

"And then he said he hoped I'd bite you."

Sirius' hand clenched at the covers of the bed, and Remus carefully picked it up and held it.

"And?" Sirius said, quietly.

"Then I punched him," Remus finished.

Sirius looked confused, and then, breaking into a smile, said, "You did _what_?"

"Punched him in the face," Remus said, and he smiled too.

Sirius laughed. "Then what?"

"He grabbed me, and his nose was bleeding, it might've been broken, I don't know, the punch sure as hell hurt, though. And he looked really mad, but I wasn't scared. I tried to hit him again, then he punched me back., and pushed me to the ground. Then he went for his wand, and that's when Prongs came out of the dungeon, and hexed Snape."

"What about Slughorn?" Sirius, despite his fury at Snape's actions, was enjoying himself. Remus seemed to be, too.

"He came out, then, and saw me on the ground, and James standing there with his wand, with something ungodly happening to Snape. He assumed Snape had punched me, then James came to my rescue. They're both in detention."

"Didn't Snape say anything? Or you?" Sirius asked.

"I guess it was me and James' word against his. And James made it pretty clear I shouldn' t spoil it all by telling the truth. I think he was thinking about my reputation as a Prefect," Remus snorted. "Shining example that I am."

Sirius laughed, then, and draped his arm around Remus. "That was a very… Marauder thing to do, Moony."

Remus brightened at the compliment. "I thought it was about time I started acting like one. Last year and all, best make the most of it, yeah?" Remus said, drawing his legs up to his chest.

"Yeah," Sirius agreed, and he kissed Remus, hands gripping the thin boy firmly, his anger and shock of the last few minutes suddenly dissipating as Remus whimpers, clutching at Sirius' neck.

They drew back, and Sirius looked thoughtful. "I hope Snivellus doesn't think that just because he's got detention, he's off the hook. He's going to regret his words."

Remus cocked his head. "I think my punch might've been punishment enough. Plus detention."

"It'll never be enough, not if he gets detention for the rest of his sickening life but, Merlin, Moony, I hope you broke that bastard's nose."


	11. Pregnant

**A/N: **_This is just a crappy little story to fill the void, I wrote it quite a while ago. Thinking of Sirius' reaction to Lily getting pregnant, and both his and Remus' jealousy. Different kinds, mind._

_Anyways. I do have an absolutely smashing MWPP story coming up, so bear with me._

_By the way, I'm leaving to a computer free environment on the 28th December, and won't be back for around three weeks. Unfortunately, this will mean that there will be no Sirius and Remus lovin'. Rest assured, it should continue into 2008. I'm loving it too much._

_So, I just wanted to say a big thankyou to everyone who's ever reviewed, you guys make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside._

_Anyways. Enjoy this._

**Disclaimer: **_I'm your little butterfly. laughs JK. I'm getting sick of typing those friggen initials.  
This one goes out to Jamie._

_

* * *

_

"She's _pregnant_?"

"Pregnant," Remus repeated, placing his cup and saucer on their kitchen table. Sirius sat opposite him, his hair falling in his eyes, almost covering his expression of utmost shock. "That's huge, isn't it?" Remus continued.

Sirius jerked his head slightly, as if trying to clear his mind. He nodded. "That's… really huge."

Remus took a sip of his tea. "Lily's excited. She was glowing."

Sirius suddenly grinned. "James'll be freaking out. As if he's ready."

"No, Padfoot, I think they've been trying for a while, now." Remus said, a wistful note in his voice.

Sirius smiled a knowing smile. "He'll be freaking out. I say we avoid them for a few days."

Remus laughed hollowly.

Sirius slid his chair so he was sitting directly next to Remus, their legs touching. "Are you thinking about kids?"

Remus didn't reply.

"We can look after their little brat, if you like." Sirius nudged Remus' shoulder. "Offer to mind it when those two are _sick to death _of listening to screaming all night. We can be the fun uncles."

Remus shifted so he was sitting closer to Sirius. "It's not an 'it'. But I like that idea."

Sirius raised an arm, and as Remus leant on his shoulder, Sirius dropped it again. After a long silence, Sirius spoke. "And you know, what, Moony?"

Remus had closed his eyes, and was breathing deeply. He made no move that he heard Sirius.

"One of the best things about you," Sirius whispered, moving his mouth close to Remus' ear, "is that you can't get fucking pregnant."

A swift pain shot through Sirius's ribs, and he yelped.

"_That's _one of the best things about me?" Remus said, a small voice pressed against Sirius' neck, "Why do I even sleep with you?"


	12. Christmas

**A/N: **_Merry Christmas y'all. This one goes out to Arabella. As I got her in Secret Santa, I thought it was perfectly fitting to write a rather awful Christmas story. Or, really, I didn't want to write a Christmas story, and she was like, 'You must!' And then, I gave in. I think I liked the way it turned out - when I re-read it just then, it annoyed me, but maybe that's just me. And the italics annoyed me, I couldn't stop, and then the entire thing was italicised (well, almost), and I had to cull._

_So, this is for her, and excuse the awful writing._

**Disclaimer: **_JK for the characters. Oh, and the dear sweet stylings of Rascal Flatts for the line_ _'on a day like this when the world is elevated'. And yes, Bella, that would mean I looked it up. I guessed James Morrison, but I should've known. Tried to get in the line about waiting, but I'm pretty sure Sirius just wanted to screw Remus right there. Enjoy._

* * *

"Lighten up, Moony, it's Christmas," he slurs, and moves closer to Remus. Remus backs away until his figure meets the stone wall of the common room. His eyes tear almost frantically across the common room – festively (and rather tackily, he'd readily add) decorated by the Marauders a few short hours ago, the _crowded _common room, filled with chatter and seasonal cheer and _people_. Remus' eyes fall briefly on a steadily dwindling pile of bottles of Firewhisky, and then turn back to the other boy.

"Sirius," Remus says, and then with more force, "_Sirius._"

Sirius chooses to ignore him, and moves closer to Remus, his alcohol-laced breath rough and heavy against Remus' face.

"Get _off _me, Sirius," Remus says, and raises his arms to Sirius' chest, attempting to push the boy away. Sirius grins at the pressure, sending little shivers down Remus' spine, and swipes his hands away with a careless wave.

"At least wait, we can go upstairs – people will see, here," Remus says, one of his hands gesturing feebly at the common room, filled to the brim with students; he wasn't even sure there were this many people _in _Gryffindor. Yet, he can already feel his protests weakening with the close proximity of the dark haired boy as a voice within him – a voice that sounds all too similar to Sirius - encourages him to just do it. _He's drunk, they're all drunk, it'll just be an amusing anecdote; remember the time Remus and Sirius kissed?_

Sirius takes a step closer to Remus; their chests touching as they breathe and Remus swears he can feel Sirius' heart racing in time to his own, and he is painfully aware of the roaring of blood in his ears.

"Why right now? Can't you wait a minute?" Remus asks, but already he can feel his will to argue vanishing, and recognizes that these are just perfunctory remarks spoken so he doesn't feel guilty when the consequences are upon them.

Sirius shakes a strand of hair out of his eyes, and speaks quietly and surprisingly clearly for the amount of alcohol he's ingested. "Because, dear Moony, on a day like this, when the world is elevated, it will be better to kiss here. More _exciting_."

Remus feels a hand on his waist, and suddenly Sirius' tongue is in his mouth, and he forgets that they aren't supposed to be doing this. With Sirius this close – when his hips are pushed against Remus', when their moans tangle together and become one, when it's just skin on skin and Sirius' hands travel places that no one else's have been – it's easy to forget that boys don't do this with each other, that best mates don't do this - that the feelings Remus has for Sirius involve a lot more than simple _friendship_.

Remus feels free to ignore these musings, and instead can focus on Sirius pressing his knee between Remus' legs, Sirius' forehead leaning on Remus', their heart and breath and mind so _together, _and a lone thought enters Remus' mind; that if Sirius' leg wasn't supporting Remus, he'd probably have fallen to the floor, because he thinks that he's forgotten how to use his legs.

But Remus hears a small shriek and he's pulled out of his little _elevated _world (and elevated does seem to be the right word, describing perfectly the high pedestal they perch themselves on, high enough to hidden, but low enough to watch the rest of the world slowly poison itself). Their little world where it's just him and Sirius and _Christmas _and they're allowed to do what they want, _fuck _the consequences.

He prepares to see shocked faces staring at him and Sirius coming out of their reverie, and he realises all too late that his hands have crept under Sirius' shirt, and he hurriedly snatches them back, whilst tearing his lips away from Sirius'. Remus adopts an expression of apology and hopes Sirius has the sense to do the same, and looks over his shoulder to the common room.

And while there are shocked faces, none of them are directed at Remus and Sirius, but rather at Lily and James. Or what were once Lily and James, now inexplicably intertwined – one of James' hands in Lily's hair, Lily's hands linked around his neck.

Sirius, who has by now turned to see what Remus is staring so transfixedly at, nudges him, and raises an eyebrow.

Remus nods in reply, and before he can fully grasp the concept of love overcoming hate (which is the only possible explanation of this –unless James bewitched Lily, which, then again, wasn't entirely out of the question), his hand is covered with Sirius' and they're halfway to the dormitory stairs.


	13. James Finds Out

**A/N: **_Did everyone have a very merry Christmas? I hope so._

_Okay, so this is my last story before I leave. Unfortunately, I have one about 90 finished - a Sirius/Regulus sort of conflict about Remus - but then I forgot to include the poster of the bikini-clad Muggle girl. Because, obviously, Sirius is gay - henceforth, why would he have a poster of a girl? So, I figured he's sort of justifying himself. Not that he feels he needs to justify himself to his family, but more for his own peace of mind, perhaps. He's, what, fifteen and in love with a boy?_

_This story is James finding out about You-Know-What. Love that idea. I can imagine him with his pillow folded around his head, muttering 'theyrenotdoingittheyrenotdoingittheyrejustmates'. But we all know - they're doing it. They're not just mates._

_So, THANK YOU. To everyone who has reviewed, to everyone who has read, to everyone who has edited. (Ie, Arabella - who is the bestest bestest best friend in the world. She edited this one, and I love it a lawt._

_Have a great holiday everyone, I hope you miss me. (Today I got a Remus poster. Unfortunately my so called friend took the Sirius one, so they can't be positioned in my room to give the effect of true love. So we put them next to eachother whilst playing Harry Potter Scene It, and sighed a lot.)_

* * *

It must have been going on midnight, but James was awake. He had been tossing and turning for the better part of the evening – Padfoot had bundled him up to bed early, claiming James needed a long rest for an early start tomorrow. "First game with you as Captain, you need to sleep, mate," he'd said in a rather motherly tone, and pointed James in the direction of the dormitory.

He'd heard Moony come up half an hour later, undressing ever so quietly, mindful of James' sleeping presence, before he got into the four poster opposite James', and drew the hangings.

Wormtail arrived a few minutes later, managing to stub his toe on his own bed, and swore loudly, to Moony's hushed remonstrations.

By the time Peter's snores had filled the dormitory, James was still wide awake. His mind was going over formations and techniques when he heard Sirius sit on the bed next to him, not even aware he'd entered the room.

"You're still awake, aren't you?"

James had sat up and nodded.

"Get to fucking sleep, you'll regret it in the morning," Sirius said, somewhat gruffly, James had thought, and he had laid back down his bed meekly, hearing Sirius throw back his own covers with an unnecessary anger.

For it _was_ only a game, after all – but then James thought of the look that would appear on Snivellus' face if they lost (as if the greasy git even _cared_) and he decided sleep was rather important.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't. He settled instead for shutting his eyes, and thinking of Evans, which he somehow found rather resting, and just as he reached picturing her ecstasy at him winning tomorrow – Sirius got up.

He figured he was going to the bathroom, so James continued letting his mind wander away from Sirius' soft pacing; until James heard Remus' hangings draw back with a snap.

"Shh!" Remus' voice came out of the darkness, "Do you want them to wake up?"

James opened his eyes a fraction, as his curiosity awakened – what were Sirius and Remus doing that he and Peter couldn't see?

He heard swishing cloth, and the unmistakable squeaking of a mattress –Sirius had sat down.

Remus continued. "Where've you been? I've been waiting _hours_." His tone suddenly seemed more mature, almost sophisticated – something James didn't fail to notice. He'd never heard Moony talk like that before.

"Prongs was still awake, wasn't he? I didn't think he'd appreciate seeing us snogging, it would probably throw him right off his game tomorrow…"

James blinked. He'd misheard, he had to have misheard.You're too tired, a voice within him offered. Padfoot and Moony would _never – _

But then Remus laughed, a quiet laugh that Sirius seemed to appreciate. "That's on the cards, isn't it?" He asked, and James heard the mattress sigh again as Sirius repositioned himself.

There was a small silence but for the rustle of material, and James dared raise his head from his pillow, and he let out a small squeak.

There were Padfoot and Moony – well, really, only the back of Moony, the rest of him lost as he kissed Padfoot vigourously - with one of Padfoot's hands clutching at his waist, the other grasping the back of Moony's neck; Moony, straddling a sitting Padfoot; Padfoot moaning wanton words and Moony gasping desperate breaths. Sirius and Remus. His best friends… Snogging.

James quickly closed his eyes and told his mind and heart to _shut up_ because, right now, the last thing he wanted was to be discovered – and be forever known as the pervert that watches his friends kiss.

_Male _friends no less.

So as James was busy trying to block his mind and his ears, Remus hands were busy with Sirius' pants, and Sirius was busy trying not to shout the other boy's name.

And just when James thought that he'd never be able to look his friends in the eye again, Sirius let out a particularly loud moan, and Remus pulled away, eyes wide.

"Did you – where's my wand?"

Sirius shook his head slightly, a small frown on his face. Remus pointed at James and Peter's figures, and then mimed talking and them startling to life.

Sirius smiled. "That's not what we do," he said, and then arched his back and took rapid, shallow breaths. "More like that, really."

Remus slid off Sirius, and crawled towards his bedside table, and Sirius took the opportunity to move back until he was leaning against Remus' headrest. Remus picked up his wand from where it lay, and whispered "_Silencio!"_, before drawing the hangings around their bed.

James thought he could cry of relief.


	14. Those Posters

**A/N: **_Oh, my God. I'm back. I trust everyone had a productive holiday? Did everyone have a happy new year? Did you welcome it in with style? My 'style' was a random boy named James, who, while he did go to all male boarding school (ohmygosh, squee.), didn't know anyone called Remus or Sirius. How sad._

_Okay, this story. Sirius and Regulus. You know, I read Deathly Hallows, and it pissed me off. The description of Sirius' room, at least. One - the photo of the Marauders. I can get on board with Remus being next to James, but there is no way Sirius would have chosen Peter over Remus. The only conclusion is that they're avoiding eachother. Feelings, wise. _

_And two - Sirius' posters. Of girls. I mean, he can't rightly have posters of naked Remus (the main problem there would be getting his hands on them, because I'm sure he'd love those posters) on his walls, but pictures of bikini-clad Muggle girls... Another story. So I figured, he's in denial. He's, what? Fifteen? And in love with his best friend? Natural conclusion - denial. The posters are a way of being able to reassure himself there is no chance he's gay. And that is where I step in._

**Disclaimer: **_JK. Hello, JK! If I could get Andrew to do me a JK impression, I would. If only to hear Jamie say, oh God, again. Sigh._

* * *

Sirius could feel Regulus watching him. He was standing on the very threshold of Sirius' room, his feet just marking the boundary of the hall. He had endured enough punishments to realise Sirius took matters rather _seriously_ when it came to his privacy.

Sirius was lounging on his bed, back to the door, writing a letter to Remus. He had no idea what he was going to say, but Remus wrote on an almost daily basis, and he figured it was about time he should let at least one of the Marauders know he was still alive. _Still alive, closer to suicide every day, locked up with these nutcases._

"Who you writing?" Regulus asked abruptly. _Prime example._

"Go away," Sirius replied.

"Your boyfriend?"

Sirius looked over his shoulder. "Go _away_, Regulus."

"That Lupin kid, right? Do you love him?" Regulus asked, his eyes gleaming.

"Shut up," Sirius said, his voice hard.

"Have you kissed him?" Regulus said, a note of amusement apparent in his voice.

Sirius stiffened, and crumpled his half-written letter into a ball.

"I might tell Mother you've got yourself a boyfriend, do you think she'd-"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Sirius shouted, throwing himself to his feet and striding across the room, so he stood an easy foot taller than Regulus, side by side.

Regulus looked up at him, grinning at the reaction. "No?" He paused, and let his grin fade and then spoke with mock seriousness. "Do you want him to be?"

Sirius forced a calm breath. "No, I don't.'

"You do, Snape said –"

"Oh, if Snivellus said it, it _must _be true," Sirius said scathingly. "Just because he fancies a bloke doesn't mean we all do."

Regulus glared at Sirius. "You're always touching him."

"Because we're _mates_. I realise, with a combination of Slytherin and Black, you're incredibly warped in the head, but surely you understand the concept of friendship?" Sirius said, moving back to his bed and sitting on the edge of it. Regulus leant on the doorframe.

"He's not even a pure blood."

"Get the fuck out," Sirius said, dropping his head into his hands.

Regulus scowled. "I'm not in your room."

"Fine," Sirius said, and walked the few paces to the door, slamming it in his brother's face. He could've done it with magic, but it seemed more poignant to use his hands.

He heard Regulus stomping up the corridor, slamming his own door moments later, his threat of telling their mother about Remus momentarily forgotten. Not that there _was_ anything to tell about Remus, Sirius reasoned, except that he was a Gryffindor, and a half-blood and a half-breed and a werewolf, and Sirius was desperately in love with him.

But other than that, nothing.

* * *

It wasn't as if he was trying to justify anything to anyone – himself or his stupid family– nevertheless, he felt the need to do _something _after the events that had transpired the previous day. 

He made his way into the city, walking briskly despite the heat, his gaze fixed on the pavement.

He knew where he was going; he and Regulus had walked there many times back when they could still stand each other's company. The fact that he was almost doing it _for _Regulus (though that thought was pushed immediately to the back of his mind, he was doing it _because he wanted to_) didn't make it any easier.

The entire transaction didn't take longer than a few minutes, but as he began walking home, the thin parcel stuffed carelessly into his pocket grew steadily heavier, and as it did so, the bile in the back of his throat rose.

He ran the remainder of the way home, stopping only when he had closed the door of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, behind him. He staggered up the stairs to his room, ignoring his mother's furious words about his sudden disappearance.

He fell onto his bed, asleep almost before his head the pillow - though not before plastering his new posters onto the wall.

He made sure he left his door open. Regulus would see, that way.


	15. Jealousy

**A/N: **_I think I have a long note to write here. Maybe I should put some things at the bottom so as not to spoil anything. Anyways. This story idea was from Arabella, and whilst I hopefully don't steal ideas too often, this one was way too perfect to pass up. The whole idea stems from jealousy - Sirius and James jealousy._

_It was surprisingly hard to write this, though. I kept trying to think of all these bad things Sirius would do with James, that would make Remus jealous, and then by the end my list made Sirius look like a very bad boyfriend indeed. I think the good things balance out. And there are arguments as to why he does the bad things with James, and not Remus. For a comprehensive essay, Why Sirius Does Bad Things With James, While He Only Sexes Remus - see my collected works._

_There are some stories behind these stories. For example, the toothbrush part... Actually, I'll write this at the end, and if you're that desperate to hear my inspiration, you read there._

_So, this one is, once again, for Arabella, because it was completely her idea. And I promise you other people, that there are three people who completely deserve a dedication. But one to a better story, because this got away from me in the end. While I was listening to The Wombats Proudly Present a Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation, I thought this story was brilliant. But tonight, with a combination of the Donnie Darko score, and Kisschasy, this story was a bit annoying. Bit repitive. But I do think there's some cute mentions._

_Oh, and Anyone Else But You (part of the Juno soundtrack) is the most perfect song. It is so, so adorable. If this thing with Remus ever falls through, I hope Michael Cera is waiting to catch me._

**Disclaimer: **_JK, and it was Arabella's idea. Intellectual property ahoy. Oh, and The Wombats belong to the Wombats, Donnie Darko belongs to Donnie Darko dudes and Jake Gyllenhaal respectively, and Kisschasy belongs to Arabella, too. But Michael Cera belongs to me._

* * *

Remus was sure he could pinpoint the exact moment he first noticed his stomach dropping not of lust, but rather of jealousy, with Sirius. 

Then again, he had always acted very jealousy when it came to Sirius. Of course, his fears that Sirius would up and leave him weren't completely ungrounded – Sirius could easily do much better than Remus, and Remus told himself quite frequently that it might, and probably would, happen – that one day Sirius would simply decide he was bored, and drop Remus.

It was still a nasty shock when he'd first realised he was completely and utterly jealous of Sirius and James.

He recalled the morning after a full moon in winter; waking up in the Hospital Wing, and feeling the comforting weight of Sirius' legs, propped up against his own, which was not unusual - rather the opposite. He had cracked an eye open, and had seen James' sleeping figure next to Sirius, which wasn't uncommon, either, sometimes Peter or James kept Sirius company.

It wasn't the boys sitting there together, it was _how _they were sitting, Remus thought.

They had pulled two chairs up to the very edge of Remus' bed, and whether unconsciously or not, James' head was resting on the crook of Sirius' neck, and one of Sirius' hands was lightly placed on James' knee.

Which, Remus thought, wasn't an incredibly romantic position – it was a bit too friendly, maybe, but it didn't mean they were snogging each other.

But Sirius and James, together – they looked the part. James was much more handsome than Remus, and the boy almost began to distract from Sirius' own beauty. It made sense. _They_ made sense.

And as Remus was beginning to feel that Sirius' legs were holding him down, not comforting him at all, Sirius woke. He had blinked a bleary eye at Remus, offered a tired smile, and noticed James' sleeping figure next to him, then roughly pushed his head off his shoulder.

Sirius had murmured something indistinct, then joined Remus on the infirmary bed, immediately pulling off the blankets so as to better compare scars. Remus had a vague thought to push him away, to tell him to go back to James, but he soon pushed that thought away, rather than Sirius. Instead, he let Sirius unbutton his shirt, tracing his finger over the new, red scars that accompanied the multitude already on Remus' chest.

"You can't see them all," Remus had said petulantly, as Sirius began to tilt his head to try and observe Remus' back.

"Not here at least," Sirius said, and threw a reproachful look at James, who had managed to stay asleep despite his rough handling. "I win, anyway, these are nothing compared to what you've had," he'd declared, then lifted up his own shirt to reveal a long, jagged gash that ran from his left shoulder to his right hip.

Remus had paled considerably then, and had begun to offer an apology, but Sirius waved it away without another thought.

"That's what I signed up for. Battle scars," he'd said, and kissed Remus.

* * *

Sirius' relationship with James was, really, very complicated, Remus thought, and he spent much more time than necessary analysing their every move.

He'd sometimes find them in the Common Room, sitting in separate chairs, but bent over the same piece of work, their faces so close together that if either of them so chose, they would be kissing. Remus always felt a bizarre urge to clunk their heads together as hard as he possibly could when he stumbled upon this seating arrangement.

And he couldn't begin to count the number of times he'd gone up to their dormitory to find Sirius and James wrestling on the floor, Sirius pinning James' hands above his head, grinning madly, while James panted furiously, wriggling beneath Sirius' grip, before Sirius deigned to let him go. Which wasn't all that different to what Sirius and Remus did behind their four poster hangings, Remus thought, but they were usually naked.

And there was the fact that irked Remus the most – the fact that Sirius seemed to have no problem saying 'I love you' to James but had yet to say the words to Remus.

There was the time, too, that Remus had all but blocked out. They had both been sitting in the Common Room; Remus with a book open on his lap, Sirius with his hand around Remus' waist, content to just sit. Or so Remus had thought, until he'd heard Sirius bellow to James, who was talking to Lily on the other side of the room, 'James! Watch this!' Then he had grabbed Remus' neck, and kissed him all too fiercely, and when he'd finally pulled away, Remus' lips felt bruised and sore, and Sirius was straddling him, which he didn't even remember having happened.

Remus had pushed him away. Sirius had still been smiling, clearly under the impression that he'd done something brilliant, until he noticed how angry Remus looked.

"What?" Sirius said, his face falling.

Remus didn't speak to him for three days.

* * *

But just because Sirius wasn't entirely appreciative of all things Remus sometimes, that didn't mean he wasn't always.

If there was a choice of a seat next to Remus, or James, Sirius would invariably choose Remus. He'd flash an apologetic smile at James, but would sit as close to Remus as physically possible, and his hand would work his way onto Remus' leg as soon as he was happy with their proximity, which often ruined Remus' concentration, but he didn't entirely mind.

Sirius had a protective vibe that he'd exploit to its full potential. If he even got the impression that James was thinking about copying one of Remus' answers, he'd snatch up the piece of parchment which held them, and hold it tightly to his chest, glaring at James. Remus would raise his eyebrows, and Sirius would mutter that James was having impure thoughts about work. And as soon as James had given up on the coaxing of answers, Sirius would give the parchment back to Remus, only to immediately copy the answers he wouldn't let James see moments before.

Sirius had a penchant for Remus' things. Despite the fact that, because of his rich parents, he always had the nicest clothes, he preferred to wear absolutely anything of Remus' he could get his hands on. He had permanently stolen a shirt that was at least two sizes too small for him, and he regularly wore Remus' most threadbare pyjama pants – though Remus suspected that was as much for the excuse that he needed to sleep this close to Remus because he was cold, as for the fact that he liked Remus' things. Remus had even once caught him using his toothbrush, which had elicited a shout of disgust from him. Sirius had looked up casually, and said that he liked the taste. Remus had screwed up his nose and asked him not to use it again, but had the distinct impression that Sirius considered the fact that they had shared every single germ each one had over the course of the last few months was more than reason to not take the slightest heed of this request. Remus was secretly glad.

And for the entire time he'd known Sirius, he'd never seen him do anything at least slightly romantic with James. Or any other boy, for that matter. James would always stay on the right side of friends – Sirius and James had never, and would never, hold hands or kiss or sleep in the same bed or have sex, but Sirius would do all those things more than willingly with Remus. And at the end of the year, Remus would be living with Sirius, because Sirius asked Remus, not James.

Which didn't exactly stop Remus worrying that Sirius would break things off, but it did make these things easier to enjoy – Sirius' hand moving dangerously close to the waistband of his jeans in the middle of Charms; Sirius leaning against Remus as he clutched at a Transfiguration essay, eyeing James warily; Sirius asking him how he looked in one of Remus' oldest shirts; holding hands and kissing and sleeping together; Remus looking up at Sirius as he grinned madly, while Remus fought for breath and tried to pull his wrists out from Sirius' hands, and Sirius telling him he was the most beautiful thing in the world.

* * *

**A/N: **_Was it fantastic? Thought so. Nah._

_Anyway, stories. I might only have one._

_The toothbrush part was inspired by a conversation my aunt and uncle had. My aunt discovered my uncle had been using her spare toothbrush at my grandmother's house, accidentally, and was rather disgusted. He, on the other hand, couldn't begin to fathom her disgust. I thought, there you go. Remus thinks it's all gross, Sirius can't understand why. Basically because they've been sharing mouths for the last few months._

_And with that charming image, I'll leave you._


	16. Tell Me I Didn't

**A/N: **_Hello, back again. The countdown's on for the end of this, I'm afraid._

_Okay, this story is based utterly and completely on a drawing by LadyBelial, on DeviartArt, entitled Tell Me I Didn't. So, thankyou so much to her for inspiring this story. It can be hers. It's not really up to scratch, but, you know. You get what you paid for, and I'm paid nothing._

_Okay. This is a mainly dialogue fic, as annoying as they are. But it's mainly a conversation. Following a rather awkward moment. Ahem. Hormones, and what not._

_By the way, I have officially decided that Remus loves the song Teenage Werewolf by Faker. I love it, too. Not just because they're Australian, and awesome, but it's about werewolves. Lycanthrope by 44 is nowhere near as good as this. And I have this vivid picture in my head of Sirius, half-dressed, singing in front of a mirror, getting ready to go clubbing. And what's he singing? Le Disko, by Shiny Toy Guns. 'Now hold on to me, pretty baby, if you want to fly... Spock rocker with your dirty eyes, gonna fuck up your ego, silly boy, gonna back you cry.' And Remus would throw him a look, and Sirius would kiss him. Because that's how Sirius solves problems._

**Disclaimer: **_First one to Jo, for Remus and Sirius, and James and Peter. BIG disclaimer to LadyBelial, for her art and idea. And for Faker and Shiny Toy Guns, for their RLSB songs. My iPod officially has an RLSB playlist. Is 'Iris' too cliche a song to put on there?_

* * *

"What?"

James didn't answer; his hands were wrapped around his knees and his entire body was shaking with laughter. He was standing a few feet from Sirius, and was clutching onto one of the post of his bed. That was when Sirius realised he was on the floor.

Sirius turned to Remus, and looked up, tilting his head far back to meet the other's gaze.

A flush was steadily creeping into Remus' face; his mouth set firm but his eyes wide with alarm .His arms were crossed and his hands were gripping his elbows rather tightly. Sirius thought he could see the whites of his knuckles.

"What?" Sirius repeated, directing the question to Remus this time.

Remus simply shook his head and took a step away from Sirius. Sirius noticed that he had practically been sitting on one of Remus' feet.

James had started to cough, and he joined Sirius on the floor, panting out barely decipherable words. "That… Remus' face? … Never laughed so hard… Padfoot…" and he collapsed into another fit of laughter.

Remus spoke. "It's not funny."

He had taken a few more steps back, but his stance remained the same.

"What did I do?" Sirius asked, nervously.

Remus raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Very funny. You know what you did."

Sirius got to his feet. "No, I don't."

James' laughter was slowly turning into hiccoughs, and Remus glared at him. "Don't you encourage it."

James put a hand to his chest. "I didn't do anything. Wish I'd thought of it, though."

"Oh, yes, it's hilarious when I get humiliated," Remus snapped, and began to turn pale. "I thought you'd grown out of that."

"Remus, it isn't like that at all," Sirius said, taking a step forward.

"Isn't it, Sirius? Seems to me that you just enjoy making me feel like rubbish."

"That's not fair, Remus, I've no idea what I did!" Sirius said, desperate for Remus to listen to him.

"That sounds about right," Remus said, and turned around, making his way towards the door.

"Remus," Sirius said, crossing the distance between them in two strides. He grabbed Remus' arm. "You've got to believe me."

Remus' eyes flicked between Sirius'. "I don't," he said and shrugged Sirius' grip off his arm.

"I'm telling the truth, Remus!" Sirius shouted, a plea in his voice.

Remus paused at the door. "So you don't have any idea what you just did?"

"Yes! That's what I've been trying to tell you!"

"You don't remember anything?"

"No," Sirius said, and flashed a smiled at James. James frowned, and gestured back to Remus.

Remus had turned around, and was facing Sirius. His face was blank. "You don't remember turning into Padfoot?"

"No, I remember that, we were having a laugh, weren't we?"

"I thought so, but… And you don't remember planning anything with James?"

"Hey!" said James, still laying on the floor.

"Fair cop, mate," said Sirius. "But, we didn't plan anything."

Remus allowed the grip on his arms to loosen. "You don't remember Padfoot going a bit… wild?"

"No," Sirius said, and thought he was finally getting to the bottom of Remus' anger. Had he broken something precious?

"You don't remember that," Remus said, a line appearing between his eyebrows.

"No, sometimes it's hard to remember all he does, I'm still getting used to him," Sirius said, anxious that he was giving the wrong answer.

Remus dropped his arms to his sides and the frown line began to disappear. "Well, do you remember, Padfoot feeling a bit… libidinous, lately?"

Sirius looked confused. "Libid-"

"Horny, mate," James called, from the floor.

"Oh," said Sirius, then he blushed. "Oh."

"Because," Remus continued, now struggling to keep a smile off his face," Padfoot decided that, er… That my leg was to be his new mate."

James collapsed into another laughing fit. Sirius turned a deeper shade of red.

"But you don't remember any of that," Remus said.

"No," Sirius said. "Listen, Remus, I'm really sorry."

Remus shook his head. "Save it, Sirius. Though I would suggest to go find Padfoot a nice girl dog, or something, find _some _girl. I refuse to let you run around with a wolf if you're just going to try and hump it." The word sounded curiously dirty coming out of Remus' mouth, and Remus began to match Sirius in colour. "But that _was _the reason Padfoot chose me, right? The wolf?"

Sirius nodded furiously. "Yes, absolutely right. Definitely."

"And you're positive you had nothing to do with it?"

"Marauders honour."

Remus laughed dryly. "Sirius, if you're lying to me, I will never speak to you again."

He turned then, and descended the stairs to the Common Room without another word. Sirius felt deflated.

James grabbed his ankle, and spoke in a whisper, "Was that a load of shit?"

Sirius shook his head and sat next to James. "Do you ever forget what Prongs does?"

"No," said James. "But I'm pretty sure one of the books said that the animal could take over, in the first few goes."

"Should ask Peter, then, see if he's had anything like it. Uncontrollable urge to eat cheese, or something," Sirius said.

"But, Sirius," James said quietly, "I don't think Animagi do anything that the wizard themselves wouldn't do normally. It's like that Muggle thing. Hyptonism, or something."

Sirius blinked. "What are you saying? That I want to shag Remus?"

"No, but – Think about it, Sirius, Padfoot was fucking humping his leg. I mean, it was absolutely hilarious but he looked so worried."

"What did he do?" Sirius asked, feeling sick.

"He panicked. He went all pale and pushed you away. Probably gave you some bruises in the process. He wasn't half rough."

"Oh," said Sirius, now feeling a tender spot on his ribs.

"Wouldn't you do that if you found one of your best mates doing that to you?"

Sirius didn't answer the question. He didn't think James was expecting an answer, and if he was, he certainly wouldn't expect the answer Sirius would give, if he was telling the truth. Because, truthfully, he wouldn't mind at all if Remus did that to him.

"Anyway," James continued, startling Sirius out of his reverie, "You don't want to shag him, do you?"

"What do you think, James?" Sirius asked, in clipped tones.

James clapped him on the back and smiled. "I didn't really think so. Just making sure." Sirius didn't reply. "Why did Padfoot choose Moony? The whole wolf thing?"

"I guess he can smell the wolf," Sirius said, listlessly.

"I guess so," said James.


	17. Remus and Lily

**A/N: **_Ah, here I am. Sorry it's taken me so long to reply to reviews, and to even post this. There's a long story behind this story._

_I swear to you, I thought of the idea of having a - in my draft words -_ _'Sirius finding Remus and Lily in the boys' dormitories (No romance, obviously, but Sirius would suspect after Lily leaves)' has been going around my head forever. That was written in my notes after my third story. That's how long it's been bugging me. I think it began after reading one in which Sirius was insanely jealous of finding Remus and Lily being together. Not, like, sexy-wise. Just chilling._

_And I finally started writing it about two months ago, and finished it about a week ago, then finished editing it tonight. Hooray. With the very kindly help of a Miss Louisa. It means a lot to me that I've finally got this one published, so this one goes out to her and her handiwork. (I've also made it known that if there are any spelling/ grammar mistakes left in here - and there were many at the start -, she will die before she gets to 'shag Dan' - her words.) Also, thanks to Bella and Louisa for their help thinking of a clever insult for James. Flobberworm, egotistical git, spell-muddling-up flobberworm git. So thankyou._

**Disclaimer: **_JK Rowling owns these children. I fully plan to take advantage of this fact, though._

* * *

Remus and Lily sat cross-legged on his bed, the parchment of a dozen half-finished essays spread over the remaining space. Remus paused in the middle of a sentence, his quill hovering uncertainly in the air. The gesture did not go unnoticed by Lily, and she reached for Remus' work, anxious to help. She felt she hasn't spent this much time with him since he started going with Sirius, and Lily was certain that they would make the most of the uninterrupted time together.

Lily handed the parchment back a few moments later, and Remus muttered a small thank you, before sighing dramatically and throwing himself onto his back.

Lily laughed and, despite her awareness of the crushed work, lay down next to Remus. "Problems?"

Remus turned his head, so he was facing Lily. "I _miss _him, Lily."

Lily inwardly groaned, and focused her gaze on the canopy of Remus' bed. Here she was, happy to find a Sirius-free moment in Remus' otherwise occupied life, and he was complaining that Sirius wasn't there. _Fantastic_.

"You're like a love sick puppy, Remus."

Remus grinned at her choice of words, and absently kicked at a Charms essay. "He's just… perfect. You know?"

Lily nodded half-heartedly. She was beginning to worry about Remus – who had clearly fallen for Sirius, and she wasn't entirely certain that the feelings were reciprocated. Actually, a part of her insisted that they weren't. And while the thought that Sirius simply saw Remus as 'a bit of fun', as he'd so eloquently put it to Lily about previous girls was wrong, it still lurked in the back of her mind.

"Incidentally, where is he tonight?" Lily asked.

Remus scowled. "Detention."

"Oh, he does sound perfect," Lily said, smiling.

"It wasn't just him, it was James and Peter, too. It's not their fault if Snivellus gets in their way," said Remus, defensively.

Lily turned so she was looking directly at Remus, "Since when is he 'Snivellus'?" she asked, eyes flashing. "And you shouldn't stand up for them, if they're being prats."

Remus blinked. "Sirius isn't a prat."

"Hate it to break it to you, Remus, but, yeah, he is," Lily said, emotions getting the better of her.

Remus sat up. "He's not -look, just 'cause you fancy James is no reason-"

Lily sat up, too, and her voice began to rise. "Leave Potter out of this. All I'm saying is –"

"That my boyfriend's a prat. That's fair," Remus snapped.

"Fair's got nothing to do with it. If life was _fair _, you'd be with someone better than Sirius."

Remus bared his teeth. "Like who, exactly? Who else do you know that would still love their best mate once they found out he was a werewolf, and gay, and in love with them? Because, Lily, even if you could find someone like that, I doubt they'd be half as good as Sirius."

"And how is Sirius 'good', exactly? He treats you awfully," said Lily, hands placed firmly on her hips.

Remus crossed his arms. "He does not. He treats me the way I want to be treated, and the way I deserve."

"Like rubbish?"

Remus said nothing, his eyes fixed firmly on a crumpled Transfiguration paper.

"What if he's just using you?" The words slipped out before Lily could think about them, but Remus' face gave her no clue as to his feelings.

"You really think that?" Remus said quietly, "He's _not_."

"Are you sure?" she asked, hardly daring to raise her voice above a whisper.

Remus nodded, raising his eyes to her. "Positive. He said he's liked me since fourth year. That's a long time."

"What if they're just words, Remus? Can you prove he means them?" she asked, a quiet calm entering into her own voice.

"Can you prove he doesn't?" Remus breathed deeply. "He's perfect for me. If you can't see that, well, it doesn't change the way I feel about him in the slightest."

"Fine," Lily said.

Remus pursed his lips. "Can't you see where I'm coming from? If he was bad for me, we wouldn't still be together. I'm not an idiot. I wouldn't stick around if he's not right."

"Okay," Lily said, torn.

"Will you please trust me on this?" Remus asked.

Lily nodded, and smiled. "That was a low blow about Potter."

Remus grinned, and rising onto his knees, hugged Lily. She managed to pat him awkwardly on the back, then she turned her head and kissed him on the cheek.

"Not interrupting anything, am I?" Sirius said, leaning casually on the doorframe. Lily hurriedly drew back from Remus, and began to grab random pieces of parchment in an effort to hide her embarrassment.

Not that she _liked _Remus – not at least more than a friend - it was more to do with the fact that Sirius, the heartthrob of their year, just caught her kissing his boyfriend.

When she decided she'd been gathering her work for a plausible amount of time, Sirius had moved behind Remus, his hand on the boy's shoulder, and was watching her with a bemused expression on his face. "All right, Evans?" he asked lightly.

Remus tilted his head back, so he was looking up into Sirius' face. "How was detention?"

Sirius glanced down at Remus, and smiled. "What d'you think, Moony? I'd much rather have been with you. Flitwick just doesn't do it for me. Which reminds me, you better watch it, I'm getting sick of missing you all the time."

Remus beamed at this simple statement and wrapped one of his arms around Sirius' knees. "Where's Prongs? And Wormtail?"

"They'll be up in a second, and I'm sure they'll be wondering what Evans is doing on your bed," Sirius said, looking back to Lily. "She doesn't belong there. Then again, Prongs will be delighted she's even _in_ the dormitory. Which would mean you're _still _on the wrong bed, Evans, Potter's is that one," he finished, pointing at James' bed.

"Thanks, Sirius, but Potter's a troll with a wand, as far as I'm concerned," Lily said, and got off Remus' bed, making her way to the door.

"If you say so, Evans. And shut the door when you leave, all right? I quite like having Moony to myself," Sirius said evenly, and sat where Lily had been moments before.

"See you, Lily," Remus called.

Lily nodded to him, and shut the door behind herself. She had taken a few steps towards the common room before she heard Sirius shouting, "Don't try and fuck with him, Evans!"

She ran down the remaining stairs, mainly to avoid running into James and his most probable coaxing of her to return to the dormitory. Mainly.

* * *

**A/N: **_There was absolutely, positively no hints at anything SBLE in there whatsoever. I promise you. I think I threw up in my mouth a little bit, at the even mention of it._

_Also, bet you thought I could make it without swearing. Almost did. In his defense, Sirius _did_ try to abstain._


	18. Grimmauld Place

**A/N: **_Howdy._

_I trust everyone had a fantastic Valentine's Day? Unless you were like me, and spent the day dethorning roses (I have the scars to prove it) and then some listening to Alone On Valentine's Day by The Remus Lupins. Little too much RLLE, but you know. Alex Carpenter is love. So is Edward Cullen._

_Okay, this story... I know post MWPP is a bit, you know, old. But still. I can't resist. And I absolutely am fascinated by Grimmauld Place. I have decided to do a series of Grimmauld Place drabbles when this one finally comes to a close, because the house is so incredible. I'm a bit annoyed that Remus didn't get to spend too much time there._

_Anyway, this story... I'm pretty happy with it, I think. It took me so long to write. So be nice. Oh, and I'm sorry, but Tonks is in it a bit. She had to be, unfortunately. But I am glad I finally... gave some thought to Remus' reasons not to be with her. I always thought he planned his excuses a bit too well._

_And as an added bonus, this story is dedicated to some fantastic people. Il Cattivo and Vikertee, you are most, most brilliant. Thanks so much for sticking with us. From the very beginning, for Vikertee. I can't tell you how excited I get when Hotmail tells me that I have PM's from these people. It's a very rewarding feeling. So, thankyou._

**Disclaimer: **_JK Rowling. The Remus Lupins (Alex Carpenter). Stephanie Meyer. And you know what? The Pet Shop Boys. Currently listening to them. Judge me all you want, but honestly._

_Enjoy their love._

* * *

He shuts the door behind him quietly; Sirius' numerous warnings of his mother's portrait remaining fixed in his mind. Nevertheless, Sirius seems to have kept his ears pricked for any sound of movement upstairs, because he bounds into the hall before Remus has barely taken his coat off, slipping his hand into Remus' own.

"Moony," he whispers, then wraps him in a bone-crushing hug. Remus wraps his own arms around Sirius clumsily, but Sirius seems to remember Remus' shape exactly, and they fit together perfectly.

Sirius pulls himself away from Remus and, lightly catching Remus' sleeve, drags him down to the kitchen to meet the Order.

It's the first time he's been to Grimmauld Place in years – since he was about thirteen or fourteen, he reckons, and the memories come back to him in a flood. The Marauders (the only time they all were at Number Twelve together, they were banned soon after) 'exploring', in James' words, the various trinkets in the drawing room; Sirius making rude gestures towards his unknowing mother as Remus laughed a little too loudly at Sirius' cleverness; Remus sleeping on the spare bed in Sirius' room as a moonless sky illuminated his pale, scarred face, Remus and Sirius screaming with mirth as Regulus shouted at them, running swiftly to the safe confines of Sirius' room.

Sirius glances at him with a confident smirk Remus is sure he hasn't seen in years, and as they enter the kitchen, hurriedly disentwines himself from Remus.

A small group of people are huddled around the kitchen table – Remus recognises Molly and Arthur Weasley, who he has met on several different occasions, Kingsley Shacklebolt, who he knows from the Ministry, and Alastor Moody, who Dumbledore introduced him to a year ago. With them is a young woman (no more than a girl, really) with shockingly violet hair and an older woman with black hair.

Sirius clears his throat and attempts a grand, sweeping gesture to announce Remus' presence. Molly is the only person who looks up, however, but upon seeing Remus, she breaks into a smile, and rushes over to him, hugging him with motherly grace. The almost vicious look that suddenly appears on Sirius' face doesn't go entirely unnoticed by Remus.

The other Order members are, by now, watching this reunion, and they each stand up and walk over to Remus. Sirius has moved to a protective distance; his shoulder bumping into Remus' every time Remus extends his arm to be shaken.

He says a brief hello to Arthur, Kingsley, and Moody, and introduces himself to the witch now known as Hestia Jones. The last witch – the one with the vibrant hair – throws her own hand out rather energetically, missing Remus' hand entirely, and her hair turns a brighter shade of red to Sirius' barely concealed sniggers.

"I'm a Metamorphmagus," she says in way of an apology, and makes to grab Remus' hand a second time. "Nymphadora Tonks."

"Remus Lupin," Remus says. "And as long as we're being honest, I'm a werewolf."

Sirius stiffens noticeably beside him, and forces himself a bit closer to Remus. One of his hands creeps towards Remus and settles itself at the small of his back.

Nymphadora Tonks smiles, and her hair returns to its original shade. "You'd know a fair bit about being different then."

"I know a bit, yeah," Remus says, and Sirius pinches him through his shirt. "Sirius does, too." Remus adds. "How old are you, Nymphadora? If it's not too bold."

"Tonks, call me Tonks," Tonks says. "Old enough to help."

"I like that," Remus says simply, and Sirius pinches him harder. Tonks' hair turns a vivid shade of red.

Molly walks over to the end of the table they are standing at, carrying a pile of plates. "I made up a bed in one of the spare rooms," she says, "seeing as you're going to be here a while."

"Molly, that was entirely unnecessary," Remus says. "You shouldn't have, I don't want to cause any trouble."

"No trouble at all, Remus, and if you're going to be staying, you need somewhere to sleep," Molly says absently, busy laying out the plates for the evening meal.

"Thank you," Remus says, ignoring Sirius' silent swearing at Molly's interfering

Sirius finally speaks. "We better take your things up to your room, then, Moony."

Molly looks up. "Oh, why don't you help, Tonks?"

Tonks begins to accept the offer, but Sirius cuts her off more rudely than necessary. "I'm sure we can manage."

"Sirius'll fill me in on Order business," Remus adds, to Tonks.

"If you want, then, it's up to you," Molly says, and turns to the sink.

"Let's go," Sirius says quietly, and tugs on Remus' shirt.

Remus turns, and walks with Sirius up the stairs to the hall where his small suitcase has been left, discarded on the floor.

"I hope you don't want to _just _talk about Order business," Sirius says, suddenly talkative without the other's presence, a familiar leer in his voice. "I have plans."

"I bet you do," Remus says, feeling rather light.

"And you're not fucking sleeping in some spare room; you're sleeping in my bed where I can keep an eye on you."

"Thought as much," Remus says, and allows Sirius to lace their fingers together and pull him up the stairs to Sirius' room.

"And what was with Tonks? I mean, she's a nice girl, but if she thinks she's going to so much as a lay a finger on you, she's in for a sorry surprise," Sirius continues.

"What do you mean?" Remus asks, affronted.

"Oh, she clearly fancies you," Sirius says, casually, as he pulls Remus past the first landing.

"What? No, she doesn't."

Sirius' grip tightens on Remus' hand. "She displayed all the classic signs of a Remus crush. I should know, I've been sporting the symptoms for years, now."

"Have you?" Remus asks interestedly, as Sirius continues up the stairs.

"I'm somewhat of an expert," Sirius asks, throwing a look behind him to Remus.

"Are you?" Remus asks, a daft smile plastered on his face as Sirius slows outside his bedroom door. He leans against it, and Remus moves so they are inches apart. Sirius looks past Remus, staring at a dark portrait placed on the opposite wall, evidently still thinking about Tonks.

"You're much too old for her," Sirius mutters, as much to himself as to Remus, "You could be her father. Too poor, as well, you can barely support _yourself, _let alone some colour-changing hussy. And you're _dangerous_. A werewolf!" Remus makes a small noise in the back of his throat, a mixture of a whimper and a moan, and Sirius' attention turns back to him. "And incredibly gay. Did I mention that one?"

Remus shakes his head. "You must've forgotten it."

'Pity," Sirius says, and kisses Remus and opens his bedroom door in one fluid movement, Remus' suitcase dropping roughly onto the landing.


	19. Argument

**A/N: **_Ohmygosh, yes, I'm alive. Marginally. I'm slowly drowning in the rain. I'm sure Arabella can attest that yesterday was meant to be the end of summer, yet it was pouring. As in, people's cars getting washed away. Amusing, no?_

_Trying not to be sad that this is the second last story? I've really enjoyed writing these... It feels nice to be able to write something short, I suppose. Apparently RLSB is all I can write now, because I was trying to write a short story for English, and it just ended up with the main character being a complete ass, sort of ending up in love with his best friend... Anyways._

_This story... I had all these plans for this story, and suddenly all of them didn't work. Included Remus being an emo, playing strip poker (decided that was way too cliche), making fun of eachother because of a speech mistake (If I say 'in well', and anyone understands that, well, you're all fantastic) and planning a wedding. It's my first wedding, and I hope that it's my last._

_So what did I end up with? Fight sex. Or the prelude to it, because, really, Remus just was itching to punch Sirius. Sirius let him. He didn't mind, honest. I just picture these two as, while they love eachother, having a lot of problems. A lot of fights to be had. Originally it was meant to be James and Lily breaking up, but you know... Remus and Sirius seem a bit dramatic. A lot of words get thrown about._

**Disclaimer: **_JK. Love. Oh, and by the way, if you've read any of the Twilight books... Well, you can definitely tell I've been reading them lately. Or I read these over, and was like, woah... Maybe that's pushing it a bit. But I think Stephanie Meyer's really influencing me, argh. Robots in Disguise for the title. I heart that song ever so much. And Blue October (Thanks to the New Moon playlist) and Muse, the whitest rock and roll band ever.

* * *

_They stood at opposite ends of the dormitory; Sirius with his feet apart, and arms crossed in front of the door, while Remus paced between his and James' bed, his teeth clenched together in anger. He suddenly stopped, and turned to Sirius.

"Well?"

Sirius frowned. "Well, what?"

"Did you?"

Sirius shifted uneasily. "No."

Remus sniffed, resuming his pacing. "I don't believe you."

"Too bad, because it's the _truth_. She's just some girl who's pissed, because I'm not giving it to her," Sirius said, shrugging.

"And the next logical conclusion is to spread rumours that you _are _giving it to her?" Remus asked, his voice thick.

"I don't pretend to understand these girls," Sirius said, stepping towards Remus.

Remus turned his back to Sirius and spoke to the wall, a bitter tone in his voice. "They understand you. They know _all _about you."

Sirius closed his eyes. "Take the word of some random girl over mine, then, Remus, I've not come to expect any less."

Remus whipped around at his words, and his hands clenched at his side. "What did you say?" he hissed.

Sirius looked satisfied at Remus' reaction. "I'm just saying that you've not been the most trusting person."

Remus took a step towards Sirius, and spoke carefully, keeping his voice light. "It's sort of hard to trust someone who spends half their time with girls in their laps, while their boyfriend is left alone."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "And what does he do alone? Cry over the fact that I'm sitting with friends?"

Remus set his jaw. "That's not what I do and that's not what _they_ are."

"I'm not cheating on you. I can't believe you'd even think it."

"You don't care what I think," Remus said harshly, and added, with a cruel tone in his voice, "I'll make you sorry, if you are."

Sirius looked momentarily surprised, but his features quickly settled into indifference. "Is that a threat? What are you gonna do, throw one of your books at me?"

Remus coloured. "I don't know, what would a Black do in this situation? Probably kill me for being a half breed?"

Sirius let out a low growl. "Don't you dare mention my family."

Remus held a hand to his chest and widened his eyes, adopting an innocent expression. "Oh, I'm sorry, is that rude? What should I do instead? Screw girls I don't know the name of?"

Sirius exhaled, and a nasty smile crept onto his face. He walked closer to Remus. "I do it all the time. After all, what do I care what you think?"

Remus snapped.

"_I hate you, Sirius Black!_" Remus screamed, and leapt at the dark boy.

Sirius had time to open his mouth before Remus collided with him, his light weight still managing to knock Sirius to the floor. Remus quickly repositioned himself and bared his teeth as he knelt over Sirius. For an excruciating moment, Sirius thought Remus was trying to bite him - instead, he imitated Sirius' earlier growl, with unmistakable menace, and proceeded to hit every part of Sirius he could reach.

Sirius held a hand above his head, and with the other, caught one of Remus' wrists. Remus ignored Sirius' crushing grip, and his other hand curled into a fist and collided with Sirius' jaw.

Sirius let out a roar of pain and redoubled his efforts at stopping the small boy. His free hand caught Remus' other wrist, and he held on tightly.

Remus' approach suddenly changed – he began sobbing and panting heavily as he fought furiously against Sirius' hands. He looked up as the dormitory door opened, ignoring James and Peter's shocked cries, and suddenly he stopped struggling; collapsing onto Sirius' chest, he shut his eyes and cried.

* * *

Remus nudged the hangings drawn around Sirius' bed open tentatively. 

Sirius lay on his back, his arms behind his head, eyes staring unseeingly at the ceiling. He heard the shifting drapes and his eyes flicked momentarily to Remus, then back to the roof, his lips disappearing into a thin line.

"Sirius?" Remus asked, quietly.

Sirius moved his head fractionally, which Remus took as tantamount to an invitation to sit.

"How're you feeling?" he asked.

Sirius snorted. "Oh, fine." He turned his head towards Remus, and Remus noticed a bruise purpling under his jaw.

He unconsciously held his breath before speaking. "'I'm so, so, so sorry."

Sirius paused before answering, determinedly keeping his expression unreadable. "It's okay. I just have a boyfriend who beats the shit out of me."

Remus winced at the words, but forced himself to continue the conversation. "Am I still that?"

Sirius looked at him. "I don't know.'

Remus' eyes began to sting at the words, but he let them water, afraid to blink in case tears would spill over the edge. "I don't want us to be over," he said softly.

"Me either," admitted Sirius, watching the ceiling again.

"So, are you giving me another chance?" Remus said slowly.

"If you'll give me one," said Sirius, and sat up abruptly, throwing an arm around Remus' shoulders.

Remus' face broke into a wide grin, and a sob escaped from his lips. He shut his eyes and leaned against Sirius' side, breathing deeply. He chose his next words cautiously, ineloquently, yet determined to explain to Sirius why he had snapped. "Just… N.E.W.T.'s and things… Things are piling up, and you got in my way. I'm so sorry."

Sirius moved his hand to Remus' waist, and sighed. "Yeah, I figured as much. Apology entirely accepted."

Remus opened his eyes a fraction, and saw Sirius staring at him. "Just for my own peace of mind…" he began, but Sirius interrupted him.

"Never cheated on you, never will," Sirius said bluntly, and kissed Remus.

* * *

_Anyone else noticed how many of these end with them kissing? I suppose kissing is nice. But, honestly, be a bit more original. Stephanie Meyer does it too! It's okay, then._

_I'm really sorry that Remus sort of had a spaz. It was coming. And I realise... Well, I'm not sure if Sirius should forgive Remus or not, but then I think, well, Sirius never did apologise. He's sorry, though, about what he said. It's not true. He's Old Faithful. Fairly sure that's a geyser of some description._

_By the way, without tooting my own horn, I'm terribly in love with the idea that Sirius wouldn't exactly try to stop Remus from hitting him at first. Sort of holding him back gently, because he doesn't think Remus could ever hurt him. Then, when Remus actually does hurt him, he tries harder to stop him, but always defensively. Ah... Also, loving the picture of James walking in, watching Remus and Sirius struggle on the dormitory floor. Definite fight sex, there._

_Anyway. One more. Good luck._


	20. Asking Him Out

**A/N: **_So, here we are. We've made it thus far. One more._

_Thank you. Thank you to everyone who has read these stories from front to back; to everyone who has read one because they were recently published and hence near the top of the huge in-tray that is RLSB; to everyone who has followed the collection out of loyalty to me, whilst being not-so-secretly disgusted; to everyone who has begun to read one, got bored, and stopped._

_Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, who has told me that these stories make them laugh or cry, who has told me it'll be a sad day when these come to a close, who has told me they're much too short, who has plugged these stories shamelessly in their own stories._

_Thank you to everyone who has inspired stories in their own right, who has put up with my bouncing-of-ideas, my niggling, my editing demands and awful, awful punctuation._

_Thank you to everyone who has become someone more than just a comment._

**Disclaimer: **_JK Rowling owns Remus and Sirius, and their pure, unadulterated love. The last sentence is also public domain of everyone who is a cliche._

_And now, enjoy the last of these drabbles._

* * *

Sirius stood outside the dormitory, his heart in his throat, his stomach somewhere below his naval. He took a deep breath, and readjusted the bag on his shoulder, his bitten fingernails catching on the worn material. He brought the same hand up to his head, wiping it against his brow, and was surprised to find his forehead was damp. Nerves, he decided, then mentally kicked himself. Sirius Black didn't get _nervous_. He wiped his hand on his robes, then raised it to the doorknob, turning it slowly.

Remus was sitting on his bed, a book spread across his knees and a piece of parchment and quill by his side. He frowned, and read the same line for the umpteenth time, trying to ignore the fact that he wasn't really concentrating at all; that he hadn't been concentrating for the past week despite it being NEWTs year. He was trying to ignore the fact that he was sick of Hogwarts already, and they'd only been back a week – or at least, trying to tell himself he was sick of _Hogwarts_, because, really, he wasn't sick of Hogwarts at all. But he was, in truth, rather sick of feeling certain _things _about certain _people_ - though he shoved that thought away as soon as it entered his mind.

Sirius pressed on the door and it swung open quietly. The room seemed empty at first glance – and there was no doubting that it should be empty, he thought, it was unseasonably cold up here – but his eye then settled on the boy sitting on his bed, focused entirely on the book in front of him. Remus had his knees drawn close to his chest, one of his hands laying on the open page, the other resting behind his neck. There was something about his face Sirius recognised from the hours he had spent studying it as supreme concentration. Remus glanced up briefly when he heard Sirius shut the door behind himself, but then his eyes flicked back to the book, and the hand behind his neck withdrew, meeting the other on his lap.

Remus leant his head back on the headboard, eyes still following the print on his page, but discreetly watching Sirius as he moved closer to the bed. Remus swallowed, but found his mouth was quite dry. Sirius, meanwhile, was striding rather purposefully towards him, his hair falling in front of his eyes in a way that was almost entirely unbearable, his right hand gripping the strap on his satchel. Remus suddenly wished he had decided to stay downstairs – while it may be loud and cramped there, it was also full of people. Full of _witnesses_, he amended, and Remus squirmed uncomfortably at the thought.

Sirius took a final unsure step towards Remus, his breathing haggard. His mind was full of possible opening remarks, but they all seemed oddly listless compared to the boy he was presenting them to. He opened his mouth to speak, and closed it immediately, suddenly worried he was going to be sick. His heart slid down his throat, and began crashing arbitrarily into his ribs. He stood for a few more moments, somewhat awkwardly between Remus' bed and James'. Remus spoke, then, and he startled.

"You alright?" Remus had finally worked up the courage to speak, since it seemed Sirius was having very real trouble coordinating his brain and mouth, a rather rare occurrence in itself. He crossed his legs and folded the corner of the page of his book, placing it to his side, and turned his full attention to Sirius. He nodded in reply, and, dropping his bag rather roughly beside one of the posts on Remus' bed, perched on the very edge of the mattress.

Sirius nodded again, and tried to contain his anxiety. He gave Remus a fleeting look – that was all he dared - and saw he was biting his lip. He forced a quiet laugh at the sort of thoughts that simple image conjured up in his mind. Remus seemed to relax somewhat, and Sirius guiltily cleared his throat. These _musings_ came almost every day, and now that he was back at Hogwarts, he'd not yet had a dream that didn't involve Remus. He was certain he needed to talk to Remus. To do _something_. He needed to be able to eat again without thinking desperately of the boy, to drink without fear of letting slip a little too much information, to be able to sleep without waking up in a cold sweat, Remus' name tumbling from his lips. _He needed to tell Remus_.

"How's it going?" Sirius began, his voice cracking. He winced.

Remus smiled. "Fine. You?"

"Good," Sirius said, and was pleased to hear that this time his voice remained level. Some of his usual calm returned.

"Haven't seen you much this year," Remus said, plucking at a loose thread on his sheets.

"No," Sirius agreed, and stopped himself from adding that he'd been purposely avoiding Remus. That would most definitely have the wrong connotations. For now, at least.

"Did you have a good summer?" Remus continued.

"Yeah."

"How were the Potters?"

Sirius ignored his question, and asked one of his own. "Can I tell you something?"

A flicker of something that might have been worry crossed Remus' features before he answered a moment later. "Yes."

Sirius drew in a deep breath, and finally voiced the sentiment he'd been thinking silently for the last few years.

"I like you."

Remus blinked. "I like you too, Sirius," he said, in a light voice.

Sirius frowned. "No. Not like that, you don't."

Remus suddenly became aware that he was clenching his hands into fists, and when he uncurled them, he noticed little crescent shapes on his palms. His mouth, dry before, was now completely parched, and he had trouble speaking.

"What do you mean?"

Sirius rolled his eyes, regaining some more composure. "I mean, Moony, that I _like _you."

Remus smiled, but Sirius noticed that the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "Oh, right. Where's James?" He flicked his eyes to the door again, as if expecting James to burst in any second.

"What?" Sirius had prepared himself for many reactions – fury, disgust, hate, even, but he hadn't expected Remus to be inquiring about James' _whereabouts_, of all things.

Remus' eyes found their way back to Sirius, and he looked mildly distressed as he clarified his earlier question. "Where's _James_?"

Something clicked into place in Sirius' mind and his eyes narrowed. "You think James is in on this?"

Remus' stomach dropped. "Isn't he?" he said, quietly.

Sirius pressed his lips together. "No."

Remus looked back at the door in an attempt to avoid Sirius' fierce glare, and tried to think of a potential reply. There was a part of him that wanted to simply put his hands over his ears, shut his eyes, and refuse to acknowledge Sirius' presence.

"Well?" demanded Sirius, and the part of Remus that voted for avoiding answers suddenly doubled in size. Instead he looked back to Sirius, and was suddenly uncomfortable with just how close Sirius was sitting to him.

"What do you mean, you-"

"Merlin, Moony, I thought you were smart," Sirius said, frustrated. "I mean that I fancy you."

"I don't understand," Remus said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Sirius had the sudden urge to shake Remus. Here he was, declaring his love for his best friend and the boy couldn't even comprehend what that meant, let alone give him a straight (he mentally cringed) answer.

He settled on mock bravado, and smiled. "Let me put it simply, then. I, Sirius Black, fancy Remus Lupin, and desperately wish for him to be my boyfriend, and all that that entails."

Remus did not smile. He could only see Sirius, sitting much too close but much too far away, staring at him with ferocious intensity. He could barely even hear Sirius over the roaring in his ears, and was dimly aware of an odd constricting feeling in his stomach.

Sirius shifted slightly closer to Remus, and Remus finally managed to swallow. "I don't –"

"If you say you fucking don't know again, Remus, I'm going to hurt you," Sirius said evenly. "I'd hate to ask you out and have to punch you in the face in the same hour."

Remus laughed nervously, and tried to shift a bit further back on the bed. Sirius noticed the movement, and moved further forwards to compensate.

"Do you – Do you like boys, then?" Remus said as an attempt at a distraction, and blushed. The words sounded foreign, especially when directed at Sirius, who was surely the most _girl-_liking boy Remus had ever met.

Sirius shook his head slowly, as if addressing a child. "No, I like _you_."

Remus looked confused. "What –"

"There's a difference, believe me," said Sirius, and slid even closer to Remus. Remus shifted himself until he was pressed entirely against the headboard of his bed. Sirius closed the gap between them, his leg pressed into Remus' knee.

"I don't see any difference," said Remus, his eyes locked on Sirius'.

"Don't you?" Sirius breathed, leaning closer to Remus.

Sirius shut his eyes, and his heart began to pound. His mind was completely absent of coherent thought – he could only think of Remus, Remus, Moony, Remus, and just how _close _they were, and how it would feel to be kissing him – surely he had never experienced anything that would come close to it – until-

Remus' hands were pushing into Sirius' shoulders – at first Sirius thought they were pulling him closer, and his heart sped up in reaction – but then he felt the pressure and understood its direction and his eyes snapped open.

Remus' face was pale and his eyes were wide as he pushed Sirius away.

Sirius' heart stopped entirely, its frantic tattoo entirely forgotten, and his earlier urge to throw up came screaming back to him. He shrugged off Remus' arms, and shut his eyes, furiously rubbing away that curious stinging sensation with the heels of his hands.

"Sirius…"

Sirius set his jaw and kept his eyes closed, his hands still covering them.

"What do you think you're playing at?" Remus asked quietly.

Sirius looked up and saw Remus looked uncharacteristically angry. "What?"

"I – this isn't funny,_" _Remus said, and he bit his lip again, as though holding back more words.

Sirius' brow furrowed. "What?"

Remus kept his face impassive. '"You're trying to mess with me."

Sirius noticed Remus hadn't _actually, _technically, rejected him, and some of his hope rekindled. "No I'm not. I'm trying to kiss you. I honestly _like _you, Moony."

Remus dropped his head into his hands. "I wish I could believe that," he said, so quietly Sirius wasn't even sure if he had said it.

Sirius grabbed Remus' wrist, and Remus lifted his head. Sirius noticed his eyes looked surprisingly wet. "Do you like _me_, Moony?"

Remus paused for what seemed a very long time before answering. "Might do," he murmured.

Sirius leant towards him again, and Remus turned his head, avoiding Sirius' lips with a small sigh.

Sirius let out a groan of frustration. "Stop _doing _that."

Remus ignored his remonstration and suddenly Sirius noticed how small and sad he looked. "Do you actually like_ me_, Sirius?" Remus said, the words sounding hurt. "Or am I… something else?"

Sirius blinked, and shifted back a few inches, which was as far as he was willing to detach himself from Remus. "This is different. This is so much more."

Remus watched him carefully. "It's not. It's not _real._ It's just a delusion of yours. And you can't… This isn't something you can just… It's not… This isn't a game."

"I _know _it's not," Sirius said.

"_I'm _not a game," Remus pressed.

"Of course you're bloody not," Sirius said, and put his hand on Remus' knee. "I _know _all that."

Remus looked down at Sirius' hand, his affirmations still echoing around the cold dormitory and his heart began to race. Without thinking, he whimpered quietly, and Sirius had suddenly thrown both his arms around Remus' shoulders, his nose pressed into Remus' neck.

Remus wriggled under Sirius' grip, his own arms linking around Sirius' waist, and Sirius clutched him harder, letting out a small moan.

And together, they decided it was like finding home.

* * *

**A/N: **_Okay, so I couldn't finish this without a little summary._

_I shall draw your attention to the genius that is me._

_First off, annoyingly, this does contain no macking. Mainly because my hands were tied by the fact that I said their first proper kiss was in the Shack. So I put myself into a bit of a bind. How the heck could Sirius tell Remus how much he loved him if he couldn't bloody show him with his mouth? I think I handled it alright, though. Be better if there was kissing._

_Also, I realise there are some differences from where Sirius is narrating and where Remus is. I suppose it all depends on their point of view. For example, Remus says that Sirius has apurposeful stride, where moments later Sirius says he has been taking unsure steps. Remus is, of course, completely blinded by the wonder that is Sirius; whenever Sirius moves, it is with elegance and grace and purpose; whenever he talks, it is with pure poetry. Sirius, however, is a much harsher judge of himself. He cannot stand the fact he is nervous. But, 'Sirius Black doesn't get nervous.'_

_You might wonder why Remus used the word 'witnesses', too, because, well, he hardly knew what he and Sirius would be getting up to. They're hardly going to jump eachother and have rampant sex. Except, of course, that's exactly what Remus would like. I imagine that once back at Hogwarts, his... feelings towards Sirius have become entirely unbearable. Sirius, too, has realised just how sick Remus is making him. As a result, they both avoid eachother. Avoid the awkward moments._

_That's about it, I suppose._

_What did you think? Did it go out with a bang? I sure hope so._

_Rest assured - __I shallbe back._


End file.
